Vendhaya kuzhambu | Fenugreek seeds gravy
Vendhaya kuzhambu is a South Indian curry prepared with fenugreek seeds as a main ingredient and cooked in tamarind based gravy.
This vendhaya kulambu is served for lunch with hot rice and papad, which is a heavenly combination. Vendhaya kuzhambu goes well with simple potato fry or even tastes great with a Potato podimas. This fenugreek seeds gravy is delicious and at the same time one of the healthiest vegetarian medicinal curries.
In some places, the fenugreek seeds are roasted first and ground with the masala and added in the gravy. But I prefer not to grind them as they give a bitter taste to the kuzhambu. Instead of grinding, I just roast a tablespoon of them in oil before frying onions. That authentiChettinad style vendhaya kulambu soon I will post in my blog.
Usually, for any kind of tamarind based gravy, the addition of fenugreek (Methi) seeds is recommended to balance the acidity level caused by tamarind. This is the basic Methi seeds gravy and can be customized in many ways with different ingredients. For instance, the authentic method of South Indian style fish curry incorporates the same ingredients and method except for few tweaks.
There are few other close cousins like milagu kuzhambu, inji kuzhambu and poondu kuzhambu for this vendhaya kulambu, which I will post in my blog one by one very soon. Although all these gravies use the same basic method, they are slightly different from one another because of the main ingredient used.
Fenugreek seeds are as healthy as the fenugreek leaves(Methi leaves).
Fenugreek (Methi/vendhayam) seeds have diverse health benefits on our skin, hair, and health.
First and foremost is it is extremely helpful in controlling diabetes.
These are helpful in the prevention of cancer and heart attacks.
The magic seeds are also helpful in reducing the pain of menstrual cramps.
Aids better digestion and prevents cholesterol formation.
One of the most important benefits is these Methi seeds are very much helpful for breast milk production.
You may like similar veg gravies from my blog: Suraikkai thattaipayaru, Karuvepilai kuzhambu, Kathirikkai mochai kulambu, Pasiparupu sambar, Keerai masiyal, Keerai kootu, Pudalangai kootu
Let us watch the preparation in a detailed video:
Vendhaya kuzhambu | Fenugreek seeds gravy
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp gingelly oil
- 1 tsp mustard
- 1 tsp fenugreek methi seeds
- 10 shallots
- Few curry leaves
- 1 tomato
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp sambar powder optional
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 lemon size tamarind
- Some water
To grind:
- 2 tbsp coconut
- ½ tsp jeera
- 1 tbsp fried gram
Instructions
Preparation:
- Soak tamarind in warm water for 15mins and extract a cup of thick juice. Keep aside.
- Peel and chop shallots (small onions)
- Grind coconut, fried gram and jeera seeds into a fine paste and keep aside.
- Recipe to make vendhaya kuzhambu (fenugreek seeds gravy)
- Heat gingelly oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds and let them splutter.
- Add a tsp full of methi(fenugreek/vendhyam) and try them in gingelly oil until they become light brown color. You will get a nice aroma from the fried fenugreek seeds.
- Add chopped small onions and curry leaves.
- Fry them to transparent stage and add chopped tomato.
- Cook tomato until soft and add turmeric, chilli powder. You can add some sambar powder if you like.
- Pour a cup of water to cook the masala.
- Now add tamarind extracted water and mix well.
- Let the tamarind cook for 5 mins and add required salt for the vendhaya kulambu.
- In the meantime you can grind the coconut, jeera and fried gram into fine paste.
- Add this paste with some water.
- Let the coconut masala cook for 5 minutes until the froth settles down completely.
- By this time you will see the oil floats around the corner. You can add a tsp of jaggery powder if you like at this stage.
- Switch off and serve with hot rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Preparation:
- Soak tamarind in warm water for 15mins and extract a cup of thick juice. Keep aside.
- Peel and chop shallots (small onions)
- Grind coconut, fried gram, and jeera seeds into a fine paste and keep aside.
Recipe to make vendhaya kuzhambu (fenugreek seeds gravy):
- Heat gingelly oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds and let them splutter.
- Add a tsp full of methi(fenugreek/vendhayam) and try them in gingelly oil until they become light brown color. You will get a nice aroma from the fried fenugreek seeds.
- Add chopped small onions and curry leaves.
- Fry them to a transparent stage and add chopped tomato.
- Cook tomato until soft and add turmeric, chilli powder. You can add some sambar powder if you like.
- Pour a cup of water to cook the masala.
- Now add tamarind extracted water and mix well.
- Let the tamarind cook for 5 mins and add required salt for the vendhaya kulambu.
- In the meantime, you can grind the coconut, jeera and fried gram into a fine paste.
- Add this paste with some water.
- Let the coconut masala cook for 5 minutes until the froth settles down completely.
- By this time you will see the oil floats around the corner. You can add a tsp of jaggery powder if you like at this stage.
- Switch off and serve with hot rice.
Tips:
1) You can add jaggery at last if you like. I don’t add jaggery for this kuzhambu.
2) Use only given amount of coconut masala for the gravy. If you add more coconut then the gravy becomes blunt and tasteless.
3) Store this in a refrigerator and use up to four days.
4) If you prefer, you can grind the fried seeds along with coconut and follow the rest of the procedure.
Also, try my Mor kulambu
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